"Do not flow in the traffic. Do not endanger yourself by trying to travel in the traffic," Brabant said. And, as any bike rider would know, they should wear a helmet and stay off the sidewalk, he added.

Rob Hertzog, who sells Harley-Davidson motorcycles but is a fan of electric scooters as well, believes the devices are in a different league than bicycles.

"They are a bike, they've got a motor," he said. "As soon as you put a motor or something on it the reason you're doing that is to go faster and truck yourself along quicker. And they do go faster than someone pedaling."

Hertzog agrees with the Safety Council that some kind of training for electric bikes should be mandatory, just as it is for motorcycles.